base on your description, the following questions come to mind: 1. Could the part have come with the condition? We are investigating with the part manufacture with no results as of yet. They are 2. Is there an open area in the PCB, near the socket in question, through wich solder can over flow and get underneath the socket? There are no holes in the PCB near the socket where solder extra solder could have migrated under the socket and then under the pin retainer. When the socket was removed there was now evidance that extra solder had been between the board and the socket base. For the amount of solder that was between the base and the main body of the socket there should have been evidance of solder ( the plastic body marks very easily at 500'F). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------